Seven miles of beach and one good street

The beach and the mountain

Manzanita's beach runs seven miles from the base of Neahkahnie Mountain south to the tip of the Nehalem spit, wide and hard-packed and rarely crowded. Walk south and the town falls away fast. Bring a layer; even in August the wind has opinions.

Neahkahnie Mountain is the hike. From the south trailhead off Highway 101 it's about three miles round trip and steep, through forest and then out onto a summit with the whole coastline underneath you — Manzanita, the bay, the spit, and on a clear day a long way south. The pullouts on 101 just north of town give you a version of that view without the climb, and we stop at them every single time.

Oswald West and Short Sand

Ten minutes north, Oswald West State Park is one of the great pieces of Oregon coast. The walk to Short Sand Beach goes through old-growth spruce and cedar along a creek, and then the trees open onto a cove with surfers in the water year-round. Even if you never touch a board, it's a good place to sit on a log for an hour.

The Cape Falcon trail leaves from the same lot and follows the headland out to a viewpoint above the cove — a couple of miles each way, mossy and mostly flat. In rough weather, the trail is sheltered and the waves at the end are the show. Tide pools at Short Sand are worth a look at low tide.

Nehalem Bay

The bay side is the other half of Manzanita, and a lot of people never get to it. Nehalem Bay State Park covers the spit between beach and bay, with a paved bike loop through the dunes, a boat launch, and horses on the sand some mornings. Rent kayaks in Wheeler and paddle the bay's edges at high tide; seals follow along.

Crabbing off the docks in Wheeler and Nehalem is easy, cheap and satisfying, and the little towns are worth a slow drive through for antiques and a bowl of chowder. Nehalem also has the closer, better-stocked grocery if Manzanita's market is missing something.

Laneda Avenue

Manzanita is essentially one street, Laneda Avenue, running from the highway to the sand, and it's a good one. Mornings mean Bread and Ocean for pastries and bread, or Manzanita News & Espresso for coffee and the paper. Cloud & Leaf is the bookstore, and the kind you leave with more than you planned.

Dinner at Neah-Kah-Nie Bistro is our answer when we don't feel like cooking, and MacGregor's is a whiskey bar with a serious list for after. The farmers market sets up on Friday afternoons in summer. Manzanita Golf Course is a nine-hole course tucked under the mountain that's easygoing about pace and dress, which suits us.

Day trips and weather

Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock are about 25 minutes north — go early to have the tide pools and puffins mostly to yourself, then head back before the crowds. The Tillamook Creamery is 40 minutes south and worth it once, especially with kids. Hug Point, between the two, has caves and a waterfall on the beach at low tide.

Gray whales pass in late December and late March, visible from Neahkahnie. Winter is storm season, and the covered porches at our house were built for it: rain sideways, a blanket, the hot tub steaming in the corner. Fall is the quiet, golden version of Manzanita we like best. For longer lists, see our guides.

Where we stay

Our home in Manzanita is Puffin Lane, a reverse-living house above the golf course with Neahkahnie Mountain filling the big upstairs windows. It has a king suite with its own bath plus three more bedrooms, three covered porches, a cedar hot tub, and a separate yoga studio that guests use for stretching, work, or just a quiet hour. The beach is about a ten-minute walk.

It's a house for couples, a group of friends, a wellness weekend, or a few generations of one family who each want a porch to themselves. The property holds seven guests at most. See what we have in Manzanita, or the full collection.